Pheonix of The North
by Sho'reg
Summary: Based off of Panther squad, following Redeski as he makes his way through 4 years of Combatery, this is the 1st year. Be ready for an action packed with some feels, and romance, of course. Reviews are welcomed, and requests are noted. Disclaimer, i own nothing but the OC. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, sho'reg here, due to some requests I am making Panther Squad's ordeal a whole series. Though it won't be centered around them, but around Redeski, as I feel like it could be a more interesting story from his viewpoint. So without further wait, here is "The Phoenix of the North." I will also try to be more realistic this run through, as some reviews had very good points on how physically impossible some stuff was.  
** Chapter I: Introduction.  
Honor, Strength, Cunning and Dignity. This is what Commander Redeski lived by and fought by. He had abided by these pillars his whole life and it hadn't failed him. Ever since he was little, his grandfather had taught him how to become a good man, as his parents were usually away on business, he was raised by his grandfather and grandmother. His grandfather had served in WWII, but he didn't usually talk about that. Why? Because he served in the war as a Wehrmacht NCO on the eastern front. His Grandfather got the nickname 'Phoenix of the North' because to combat the Soviets, he used a lot of flamethrowers. This tactic was met with success during the war, but eventually history happened. He was surrounded by the soviets near Estonia, and had his army flee to Sweden by stealing fishing boats and other civilian boats, where they claimed amnesty and dispersed. Officially he was presumed dead by the Nazis. So he fled to the States, preferring the climate and isolation of Northern NewYork.  
Redeski was not only taught the pillars that he lived his life by his Grandfather, but also all of his Grandfather's tactics. Redeski would pass the time on rainy or slow moving days playing 'War' with his Grandfather. Of course, he would usually lose in the battle of green and tan toy soldiers, but as he grew up, losses went to draws and stalemates. He had never actually beaten his Grandfather in a match of the game they created, but Redeski was more than content with the draws.  
So when given the option to attend a military prep school, Redeski jumped at the chance. There was quite a lot of options, usually 5per state, but he narrowed it down to the Iroquois. They were based near Buffalo in upstate New York, which happened to be not too far from home. They also provided barracks for students to stay in during the school year, which was a bonus for Redeski.  
The school participated in many different sporting events, each based on a service branch. There was Naval Supremacy, Air Supremacy, Tankery, and Combatery. Student were forced to do one and could only do one of these. All of these were based off of WWII equipment, nothing past 1945 was allowed. The school was based off of a mix of German and American tactics and equipment. Redeski, not being too familiar on the aviation or naval areas WWII, picked Combatery. He wasn't a fan of only using tanks, as his Grandfather had told him the dangers of relying purely on armor, and in this 'sport' All branches were combined. (Based on battlefield of course, no water, no ships)  
Upon applying for the school, one had to take an entrance exam. This would place them in what role suited them, such as being a rifleman, NCO, Fighter pilot, ETC. Redeski Took this exam and was placed on the command branch. His first command was of the Northern Flank, under Commander Green. Green was a senior in the school, and had a pretty good track record as far as wins and losses. He was around 6'0" had short brown hair, brown eyes, and a slightly muscular look about him. It also seemed that he had a constant 5 O'clock shadow on his face. He was pretty social also, and usually ate with his command staff, which now included Redeski.  
 **Chapter 1: The Phoenix Returns**.  
The day before the first semester started, Redeski was able to get settled in his Barracks. Luckily enough, he managed to get the top bunk, he didn't know who was on the bottom bunk yet, as the man hadn't shown up yet. That wasn't surprising to Redeski, as he had gotten there early to secure a favorable place. He had been able to get the bunk in the corner of the barracks, right next to a window. There was a bit more space over here as well. Redeski placed his stuff in the locker next to the bunk, and went out to explore the campus. The first place he came across was the cafeteria, as all the barracks surrounded it, seemed huge, but empty. It was still early in the morning and the term hadn't even started yet, so Redeski wasn't surprised there.  
As he went to the exit of the building, he found a bulletin board. It had a few on campus job positions, he'd have to check those out later. As soon as he exited the building he walked into someone, and fell flat on his face. So did the other person. He quickly stood up, and went to apologize, he hesitated once he realized the person he walked into was Commander Green.  
"Uhh-" Stammered Redeski, he was mentally punching himself. "Sorry sir" He managed to get out. He went to help his commander up.  
"Just when you thought they'd bring some talent into this place." Green looked like he was having a rough start to the day. His uniform, which was basically olive green dress shirt and pants with a darker green tie, (it's the school uniform.) Was quite worn. The tie was loose around his neck, the top button was unbuttoned, and His shirt was half untucked. This was not the standard that was expected of wearing a uniform.  
"Are you alright sir?" Redeski asked. He was genuinely concerned.  
"Yeh, just blowing off some steam." He replied in a sighing tone. "Hey, aren't you the replacement for Jim?" Green asked.  
"Yes sir." Redeski said sharply.  
"You eat breakfast yet?" Green asked. It was still only 7am.  
"No sir." Redeski replied.  
"Cool, come with me, I know a great place to get food around here." Green replied.  
Redeski fell in step with Green as they made their way to town. It was only a ten-minute walk. Once they arrived Green led the way to a Diner. In front of the diner was three other guys, each one was dressed in civvies like Redeski. Once they met up Green introduced what was his command staff.  
"Alright guys, this here is Redeski, he's our new Northern NCO." Green stated. "Red, this here is Mike Sheedy, Erica Sherry, and Tom Horn."  
Redeski shook Mike's hand. The man was a giant, around 6'7" and had The longest hair that regs would allow (not that long, but long enough) and brown eyes. He seemed a bit on the heavy side, but Redeski was unsure if it was muscle or not.  
As Redeski shook his hand, Mike stated "You can call me Big Sheeds." Redeski nodded.  
Next was Erica Sherry, she was quite short, about 5'7" and was wearing aviators. She was very tan, and had brown hair that was in a ponytail. Her bust wasn't that large, as red was quick to notice that instead of a hand shake, she flat out hugged him. He was caught completely off guard.

"Nice to meet youuuuuuuu" she said as the hug got more intense. Redeski was trying to laugh it off.  
After that ordeal, he shook Tom Horn's hand. The guy was about 6'5" short blonde hair and blue eyes. He was quite muscular and had a Nordic look about him. He just shook Redeski's hand with a very firm grip, it felt like Redeski's hand was being crushed. Other than that, he seemed like a pretty chill guy to Red.  
They followed Green into the Diner, and got seated at a corner both. The diner was quite busy.  
"So I take it your plan didn't work?" Big Sheeds asked.  
"what do you mean my plan, this was all Sherry!" Green replied, he seemed to be back in the mood Red had found him in.  
"Hey now, don't blame me! My plan was solid, it not my fault that your smooth talking made her reject you!" Sherry retorted.  
Horn slammed his fist on the table and stated "Enough" with arhourity. This quickly ended the bickering.  
"He's right, I'm doomed to be single for the rest of my life…." Green leaned back against the booth. He let out a sigh as the waiter can and took orders from the table.  
Red was completely lost. He had no idea what was going on. So, in true Freshman fashion, he stated "What happened?"  
"Well you see, Green over here has-"Sherry was cut off by Green.  
"Let me tell my own failures Sherry!" Green interrupted. "So you see Red, this all started freshman year. I found myself falling for this one girl, who was utterly out of my league." Green seemed to be having a flash back if sine kind, staring at his drink. "So I built my way up from zero to 100 in three years. It took me three dam years to get to this point in my life, and she still won't go out with me." Green let out a deep breath.  
"That's what I've been trying to tell you man, you could have any girl besides her, but here you are chasing this hoe." Big Sheeds said.  
"She's not a hoe!" Green retorted.  
"Dude, you, me, and the rest if this school know that she has had more the a few ventures" Big Sheeds replied with the same tone.  
Green looked defeated. Just in time for the food to come though. There was an awkward silence, Sherry decided to break it.  
"So, Red, how are you liking the school?" Sherry asked.  
"It's alright, I saw some board with job offers on it, think I might take one." Red replied  
"Don't. They're not worth it trust me, you clean the dishes for hours and get paid barley anything." Green replied.  
"It's not that bad, but he has a point." Big Shreds responded.  
"Really?" Red asked.  
"Yup, I made that mistake Freshman year." Green replied.  
"Green, I just noticed, why are you wearing the school uniform?" Big Sheeds pointed out. The thought had just accrued to him, as it didn't fit the asking a girl out scenario.  
"Oh I just got whooped by the principle. My grades are sub-par as usual." Green replied. His tactical genius on the battle field didn't transfer over to core subjects, mainly Physics.  
"What he threaten you with this time?" Sherry asked. She seemed genuinely concerned.  
Green's expression saddened. "It wasn't a threat." He let out a deep sigh. "This time I can't bullshit my way out, I might not graduate."  
This surprised Redeski extremely, as Green was one if the schools selling points. He had gotten the school plenty of fame, and was praised as a tactical genius by most students and faculty. But Redeski decided to hold his tongue, not wanting to assume anything.  
"What do you mean not graduate?" Big Sheeds utterly surprised by the fact.

"What do you think I mean?" Green replied. "I literally just said what I meant!"

"Cool it guys. Green, you always climb your way out of these holes." Sherry said, trying to keep tensions from rising, Green seemed to be on his last wits.

"You know why I'm always able to climb my ways out of these holes Sherry?" Green said to Sherry, equally as taught. "It's because I dug those dammed holes! But I didn't cause myself to be shit at school work, no matter how hard I study I only scrape by, and if I can't do that this year I'm boned!"

"Then you don't do it 'by the book'" Big Sheeds suggested, Green only got more pissed.

"I. Don't. Cheat." Green said, teeth clenched. Don't get him wrong, him and Big where best friends, but Big just put him off sometimes.

"Well you're running out of options man-" Big Sheeds persisted, trying to get Green to accept his idea.

"I'd rather fail then pass a _cheater_. _"_ Green retorted, spitting out the word cheater. He couldn't even grasp the idea that his best friend even suggested the idea. Sherry, on the ball as ever intervened again trying to put out the flames before fists where raised.

"Shut up or take it outside, I want to eat my breakfast in peace." Sherry interrupted them both in a deadly tone. They both shut up, much to Red's surprise.

Red decided that he could easily take their focus somewhere else. So he decided to change the subject to the sport they would be fighting together in, Combatery.

"So….. who will be under my command during the upcoming season." Red asked, more directed toward Green, but open still.

"Uggggg, I forgot, we still have to divvy up forces." Green just face palmed and gave up on life.

"Why not do it now?" Sherry suggested. "We're all here, and I got pen and paper." Red was quite surprised Sherry managed to pull a small notepad and pen out of a pocket. I guess it would work, all they needed were names.

"Your preparedness never fails me Sherry, now let's see…" Sherry handed Green the paper and pen. ".. Alright, so Sherry, you're going H.Q. again, Tom you got mid, Big you got south, Red you got north. Everyone cool with this?" Green asked before finalizing. No one objected, and the planning continued.

"So, I haven't seen you in a command before Red, what units do you think you'll excel with?" Green asked, Red however, didn't know that much himself. Sure he played a few R.T.S.' but those where games.

"Well, what units do we have available?" Red asked, he figured it would give him more time to think.

"Well, as it stands, we model ourselves off the U.S. and German forces, so we got halftracks, Stewarts, Sherman's, Pumas, Tigers, it's quite the haystack." Green replied.

"If you don't mind, I'd prefer the light tanks and light infantry." Red answered, from what his grandfather told him, Heavy units could cost you a war.

"Mobile type of man eh? I knew you were a good pick. Alright so Sherry, you're getting the Rear Guard as usual, Big sheeds guessing you'll want whatever Heavy tank you can get your hands on?"

"Yup" Big said in agreement.

"And Tom, gonna take it you still want the anti-tank guns and that jazz." Green asked, Tom simply nodded. "And there it is; We'll meet tomorrow on the training fields." Green said with finality.

Then the food came. It was quite good, Green seemed to have his mind occupied by something else, Redeski didn't blame him. He seemed to have a lot on his mind.

The Rest of the morning went by quick for Red. After breakfast the group split up to do last minute preparations for the upcoming semester. Redeski headed back to his bunk, to find it more crowded then before. It was two floors, Freshmen only. Communal bathrooms (to many dismay, not co-ed) limited airflow, little to no privacy besides their locker, which could only hold their clothing, school books, and a few other small items.

With 100 students on the first floor, and 50 on the second, Redeski was glad to have been able to get a relatively calm area on the second floor. His roommate seemed to have just arrived, and was unpacking his items into his locker. Redeski figured he might as well make good terms with the bottom bunk.

"Why hello there." Redeski said, he stretched out his hand for a shake. His roommate turned around and met his hand shake. It was quite firm.

"Sup, I guess you're the top bunk?" The guy said. Redeski nodded. "Sweet, my names Juno Prophet, mobile recon for the upcoming season. You?" Prophet stated, he was a white 6'5" black haired guy. He was in good shape, if not a bit lean.

"My names Redeski, I'm the C.O. for the Northern forces this upcoming season." Redeski replied with and equally relaxed tone. Prophet on the other hand nearly snapped to attention.

"Sir, shouldn't you be using officers' quarters?" Prophet replied. Rank was something earned through the student's time at the school, even though Redeski was a Second Lieutenant, he still had the option of sleeping in a much more private officer's quarters. He chose not to, not because he didn't like the extra privacy (no matter how small the room actually was) but his family couldn't afford the extra payment. Usually it was covered by the school once a student reached the rank of an officer, but since Redeski was a Freshman, they would've made him pay for it.

"I don't have that kind of money, otherwise I would've" Redeski let out a chuckle. "You don't have to be at attention you know, it's not like I'm Green" Redeski finished saying.

"If you say so sir." Prophet replied. He then resumed his previous activities. The rest of the day went by quickly, to Redeski's dismay. He explored the campus a bit more, getting a feel for the layout of the area. There was five maim buildings. The Class building, which held normal classes. The building along with most of the others was brick and looked like something out of colonial times, but the inside was up to date.

The second building was the Mess hall, which was right next to the Class building. Its purpose pretty obvious, to feed the students. It was surrounded along with the Class building by the Bunks and other student housing.

The Third main building was the Armory, which was situated about a mile away from the Class building. It had a firing range, and housed all the school's equipment for the sports it participated in. It was massive in its own right.

The fourth main building was the hanger/Airstrip. It was nothing more than a dirt field and some hangers, but it managed to house the whole team for Air Supremancy. It seemed a bit beat up, but he wasn't able to get that close to it because he started to run out of daylight.

The Fifth building was situated on Lake Erie. This was two miles away from the Class building. The dockyards there housed the schools Naval team. Redeski doubted that he'd ever see them in a battle, as combatery matches usually took place on land locked areas.

Once he got back to the Dorms, it was nearly 10 P.M. The school day started at 7am sharp, and Redeski needed all the sleep he could get. Much to his surprise, as he passed by the Dorm buildings common room, some one recognized him as an officer, no matter what rank he might be.

"Area, attention!" was called from a student by the doorway to the common room, the place went dead quiet. The student then saluted.

"At ease, and you don't salute indoors man, just a tip." Redeski replied to the room. Everyone went back to what they were doing.

"Yes sir" Replied the student Redeski was correcting.

Redeski continued to his bunk, checked his phone for any updates. Before he knew it, nearly 30 minutes passed. He shook his head in disbelief, set his alarm to wake up at 5:30 am, so he could get his morning routine down before the rush, and went to sleep.

Green, however, was in his officers' quarters with his staff, everyone but Redeski of course. He needed seniors, not freshmen for this upcoming task.

"Alright, Sherry and Big, you got the first floor, Me and Tom got the second." Green stated to the group, they were all Relaxing in the cramped living space. It was one room, with a T.V., bed, couch, coffee table, and small counter top. It also had a small bathroom attached to it.

Everyone nodded, they were quadrating with other Seniors to wake up the freshmen at 5:30, to make sure they were all awake. It was really just a prank to get some freshmen aroused and panicked, but hey, when your top dog, its stuff you can get away with. The two groups were armed with a small metal trashcan and a wooden handle.

"Good, timing is impartial, I know I can trust you guys, hopefully the other Seniors will come through."

The rest of the night, Green hung out with probably the best friends he ever had in his life. Whatever life he had was behind him, it had been a rough journey and a long and windy road, but Green knew it wouldn't last forever, so he took nothing for granted. This had been one of those moments, just him and the squad, of course Vinny was missing, but he had gone on to do better things. Green was sure Redeski could fit in enough, but he'd have to make sure he was a good guy first, he didn't want an idiot to ruin what was more or less, the high of his life.

And then, that moment was interrupted with a phone call.

Greens phone went off, in his usual ringtone of "This is your ringtone pick up the phone". He'd gotten it from some T.V. show, he didn't remember which one though.

"I'll be right back guys." Green said, leaving from what was starting to turn out to be Tom kicking everyone's ass in poker.

He walked out of his room, and into the hallway, to meet whatever was thrown at him, today just was going south.

But he wasn't prepared for this call.

"This is Cadet General Green speaking." Green said into the phone. He didn't recognize the number, so he gave the formal title.

~ _, this is officer Hobs.~_

This surprised Green. Hobs never called him from the office phone before.

 _~ -~_ Hobs started to sob on the other end of the line. Green had thoughts racing through his mind, but it avoided the subject that was to come.

"Hobs, are you alright?" Green asked, not only was he puzzled by being called , as Hobs had taken him in as a son for half Greens life.

 _~Danny, I'm so sorry..._ Hobs said in-between sobs. _~I tried everything. Nothing worked…~_

At this point Alex Hobs, a man of the law. He had busted cartels; he had been in the force for 20 years and had earned a reputation of being unfazeable. They called him the Iron willed man in the paper once. It was nearly closing time at the station, and more than of his co-workers had felt the uneasy feeling in the air the moment he came back from his beat. He had just sat at his desk, staring into a void.

So when he started to have a breakdown on the phone with someone, a few co-workers came over to find out what was happening.

"Hobs, you there?" Green asked. He was starting to get worried, his sister was off today. No way this was about her, but if not then who. Green's brain was like a ships bridge scrambling to get to Action stations during pearl harbor.

Green heard some other voices in the background of the call. Then Hobs got back on the line.

 _~I'm alright, but thank you…_ There was a deep breath and exhale. _Danny, your sister's dead.~_

There was silence. The bomb had just hit the ship, Green's brain was put into emergency state.

"Hobs, she was o-" Green tried saying.

 _~She was called into work today to help me out on the beat… she was shot by someone, Danny I tried, and I tried, she just wouldn't get up…"_ Hobs went back to having a mental breakdown.

Green stood there stunned. The ship that was his body was sinking. A ship in which he couldn't Jump. His last family member had been shot. He hung up the phone, leaned against the wall and just slid to the floor, and stared.

His sister had been quite a bit older then him, and had basically raised him with Hobs, her husband. They met in the Force and had been renounced as a deadly duo for crime. Lana was a good woman, unlike his mother. A drunk and drug addict, he fled to his sister when he was ten, and she had given him the best of what she had. His father was probably some man who fell into his mother's trap, but escaped before the child support payments hit. He never knew what had become of his mother, or the rest of his family, but now he was the last one.

The fleet had been sunk.

After twenty minutes passed, Green entered his room with his composure. He was the last one of the fleet, and he would refuse to sink.

 **5:20 am Redeski's bunk.**

Redeski had woken up before his alarm surprisingly enough. He slapped himself awake, canceled his alarm, and got to work quickly.

Piss, shower, get dressed and get out that door and down to the mess hall. This took him ten minutes on the dot. Just as he was going down the stair case, He saw Green and Tom, sneaking their way up with a trashcan and wooden handle in tow.

"What are you guys doing?" Redeski whispered.

"Revelry, you want in? Just take my lead." Green replied. Redeski, not wanting to disappoint, agreed.

As the trio cleared the staircase, and opened the double doors to the second floor bunks, Tom flicked the lights on. Green played the trashcan like a drum.

"REVELRY, REVELRY, REVELRY! DROP YOUR COCKS AND GRAB YOUR SOCKS!" Green yelled. "YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO BE INSPECTION READY!"

Green took pure pleasure from this, last night's thoughts were for a more peaceful time, like math class. He needed to do this at the moment. Although, he felt extremely tired from lack of sleep. Once a minute had passed, he yelled once more. "AREA ATTENTION!" the scrambling of young men was cut short. It was dead quiet, almost everyone half awake.

Prophet noticed his Bunk bud was missing. He was either dead, or going to be soon.

"Alright, Redeski you know how to conduct an inspection?" Green asked.

"Yes sir" Redeski replied, of course his standards were his Grandfathers. This meant Wehrmacht standards.

"Good, you take right, Tom you can get mid, and I'll get left." Green said, they moved out.

Tom, was silent, just writing stuff down. This was only a mock inspection after all, but for the students in combatery, this would be reviewed.

Green was your normal inspector. Loud, asking questions, and demanding answers.

Redeski however, put whoever he was inspecting on edge. For example, the first bunk to be inspected was in pretty good shape, but good wasn't perfect.

"HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS MORNING PRIVATE!" Redeski shouted.

"OUTSTANDING SIR" The student replied.

Redeski took a Nickle from his pocket and walked over to the bottom bunk.

"PRIVATE, ARE YOU THE BOTTOM BUNK?" Redeski asked.

"YES SIR" He replied.

He dropped the Nickle onto the quickly made bed. It didn't bounce, and therefore needed to be corrected.

"PRIVATE, DID YOU EVEN BOTHER MAKING YOUR BED THIS MORNING." Redeski asked.

"YES SIR" The private replied.

"THEN WHY, WONT MY NICKLE BOUNCE ON IT PRIVATE." Redeski asked.

"I DO NOT KNOW SIR" The private replied, quite confused.

Redeski took the mattress, flipped it off the bunk and returned to being in front of the private.

"YOU WILL RE MAKE THAT BED! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!" Redeski yelled.

"YES SIR." The private replied.

"DO YOU HAVE A UNIFORM PRIVATE?" Redeski asked.

"YES SIR." The private replied, yet again.

"Then where in God's name is it?" Redeski whispered in a deadly tone.

The Private, now shaking in fear, replied to Redeski. "IN THE LOCKER SIR" The Private replied.

So Redeski went to the closet. Got the uniform which was on a clothes hanger, and held it in front of the Private.

"PUT THIS UNIFORM ON NOW!" Redeski yelled, giving the Private the uniform.

The Private quickly started getting dressed, not more than 10 seconds had passed when Redeski started the count down.

"TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX, FIVE…" Redeski started to yell.

The private had nearly finished, all he needed was to put on his tie.

"TWO, ONE. YOUR TIME IS UP PRIVATE, UNDRESS AND DO IT AGAIN WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT." Redeski ordered.

The private did so, just within the time limit.

Once he finished yelling at that private, he wrote some things down, and went on to bunk number two. The thing was, he skipped a few bunks. It was almost like a game of Russian roulette. The same possess that occurred on the first bunk happened on the second bunk.

They all finished at the around the same point. Redeski's half of the room was notably more of a mess then it was when they started this ordeal. As the Trio walked out of the doors, Green yelled once more, ending it. "AS YOU WERE!"

There was a scramble of teenage boys repairing their bunks and conversing. Prophet, was not one of those boys, he had seen Redeski get up and ready early, so as soon as Redeski went to the showers, prophet had gotten ready. Thankfully it payed off when Redeski came to inspect their bunk. Prophet had passed, with relatively little damage. Besides the fact that his tie was a bit weird, the bunk had checked out.

So Green, Sherry, Redeski, Tom, and Big Sheeds met up on the first floor and went to the mess hall to grab some breakfast. The moment they sat down, Green was more than ready to share what happened.

"Guys, you're not gonna believe this." Green said.

"I probably won't" Said Big Sheeds

"You'll want to, trust me." Green replied. "During that inspection I literally had a kid piss his pants in fear, I nearly died!"

Big Sheeds started to laugh along with Tom, Sherry, however, wasn't as amused. They weren't there to make freshmen piss themselves.

"And Red over here, this guy is a _savage_ during inspections." Green joked.

Redeski raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" Sherry asked. She was known to take liberty during inspections.

"Sherry, you would be put to shame to the likes of this guy!"

"I'll have to see this for myself during the next inspection." Sherry said, she was glad to hear a rival had finally appeared to match her inner drill instructor.

Breakfast was bland, and so was most of the first day. Trudging through the usual high school subjects, and being a freshman didn't help. But getting respect for having the Rank of 2nd lieutenant did help Redeski. He chuckled every time a classroom without a teacher was called to attention when he walked in.

Prophet was in almost all of his classes, including lunch. Redeski met some other Freshmen that were pretty chill, it wasn't that hard for him. He seemed to attract people not only because of his rank, but his friendly persona.

The better part of the day came when the school day ended, and practice began. Red headed to the training fields and met up with his fellow CO's. There was a crowd gathered outside the building, the freshmen where babbling about their day, the other classes were waiting for Green to make his usual day one speech. And as sure as the sunrise, Green took a crate, stood on it, and did what he did best.

"Area Attention!" Green said. The area snapped, quite was assured. "At ease."

Green cleared his throat. "I know you've heard me talk about this before, but ill do it again for those lovey Freshmen." Green started his speech. "Today you will be assigned your CO, and some of you will get the position of NCO. I have high expectations from you, our whole command staff does, I'm sure you will not disappoint." Green, not one for long speeches wrapped it up smoothly. "I am ment to command you, but it is you who command me. Keep that in mind, as I am not fighting these skirmishes, you are. It is you who will win this season, not me."

Green then assigned the Students to their commanders. Each squad replaced their missing or needed members with a new Freshmen. It went smoothly as the older students helped out the newer ones.

The commanders split into 4 areas, on the dirt field in front of the tank hangars. Redeski stood in front of a semi-circle. His group seemed to be composed of around 50 men/women. Prophet was in the front row of the semi-circle, which was pretty good Redeski guessed.

"So, I'm the new CO here, but I still expect you'll follow me, even if I'm a freshman." Redeski stated. He knew he'd have to flash his rank to gain respect initially, as after all, he was a freshman. "I requested mostly light units, I hope you guys will be alright with some mobile combat."

Someone raised their hand. Redeski called on him. "Sir, what if the enemy has heavy armor?" The student asked. It was a good question.

"Well, I'll be equipping all squads and vehicles with at least one panzer Faust and 5 rounds. You'll have to get in close, but that's why we'll be knife fighting." Redeski replied.

The student seemed to question the thinking. But the answer was final.

After that, they got down to practice. Redeski took count of his men. He wrote the following list.

1 ELC-AMX (good gun/spd, shit turret traverse.)

5 M5 Stewarts (Average all around)

5 M3-Halftrack motorized infantry. (Flanking/defending)

2 Puma's (Great scout.)

5 Infantry squads (Average squad of five)

1 M3 Priest (Mobile shelling)

3 MG-42 teams (mainly defence)

3 Willis Jeep with .50 cal (Scouts.)

After he finished the list and notes he went and discussed knife fighting tactics with the light tanks. He also got to know the ELC NCO. His name was George III, and apparently was to be crowned a knight when he turned eighteen. He was only a junior, but hey more to him. George's nickname was quite literally 'Knight' as he carried a 'sword' (fake of course) into each skirmish. He was a 6"5 English looking man, with brown hair. You literally couldn't get more knight like than this guy.

Anyway George and the other tank commanders, along with Redeski decided it would be a good idea to fix a Panzerfaust to the side to the tanks turret, and be able to fire it from the inside. It was an interesting idea to say the least, but Redeski told them if they could make it work, he'd allow it. After that, Redeski moved onto the other squads discussing the tactics he was most likely to use.

Apparently Prophet was on a Willis. The Jeeps would be key to harassment and recon. After he got to know most of his men, he went onto the shooting range while the rest of his men did similar things. Today was pretty relaxed, and Redeski was sure Green would have a plan for tomorrow.

He walked right through that door and into…. Woah.

Redeski had just walked into a beautiful chick, it took a second to apologize.

"uh- sorry." Redeski said, of course he had lost his cool _now_.

"Oh it's alright sir, I should've looked where I was going." She replied. She was 5'10" and had her brown hair in a French braid. "Heading to the range?"

"Yeh, any recommendations?" Redeski replied, trying to play it off, in a fashion only a freshman could attempt.

"Follow me, I'll show you the better guns." She replied.

"Say, what's your name?" Redeski asked as they walked to the master of arms. Who was an adult of course.

"Oh- I'm Angela Newt. People just call me Newt." She replied. "One Luger, and One STG-44 please."

The master of arms had her sign here and there, and gave her the weapons.

"Alright Newt, I'm Redeski, Red if you want." Redeski replied.

And so Newt led Redeski to the both, and taught him how to shoot.

Green had taken a pistol, but wasn't at the range.

He was by himself, behind the armory building. There was overgrown grass and other junk back there, he sat down and put the pistol to his head.

One bullet

To end it all

…

His hand quivered against the cold steel. He could jump ship right now, end his pain, his troubles. He might even see his sister again, in whatever world was after this one.

He pulled the trigger.

 **ALRIGHT BOYS, THAT'S ALL. Please leave a review, this is probably my longest chapter. I want to hear what you guys want in the story also. If things start getting to unreal, just say so, ill put it back into the real world.**

 **So happy Labor Day and such, kick off the school year with this fanfic!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Heya guys, school started, no duh, but here I am putting out that chapter. Just wanted to let whoever's reading this right now that I will probably be putting a chapter out once a month, sorry for the long writing times, but school takes the upper hand when it comes to fanfiction. So now that's out of the way, enjoy!**

 **Chapter 2: Luck of the draw**

The pistol in Green's hand made a clicking noise as he pulled the trigger. Nothing happened, he was still sitting behind the armory building, with a gun to his head. Green checked the magazine, with his hands already shaking.

The magazine wasn't loaded, although he was sure that he had it loaded at all times. Green was then left with his thoughts of what he just might've done.

Sherry was a woman of rules. She was always prepared, and observant of when to act, and when to play it off. So as she finished talking to the Rear Guard under her command, she went to go find Green. She knew Green was going to try and shoot himself, so while they were hanging out last night, Sherry had unloaded the pistol which was poorly hidden between his bed cushions while he was outside taking a phone call.

Green had shown this to her a year or two ago, and where he hid it. He claimed it was for self-defense only. Even though guns were contraband on campus, she didn't snitch on Green. She had seen Greens general direction when he left the group 25 minutes ago, so she eventually found him. Green was shaking tremendously, and just staring into the distance.

"You unloaded it, didn't you." Green stated as he heard Sherry approach. Green knew of only one person who he had told about his weapon. "Your preparedness never fails me Sherry."

Sherry sat down next too Green. "Dan, what's wrong?" Sherry asked, it felt weird using his first name, but she felt that the question needed it.

"Everything. My grades, my sisters fucking dead, I'm losing it Sherry." Green said, he was still shaking. Green then broke down and started sobbing.

"Everything's gonna turn out alright Dan…" Sherry leaned against Green and lightly hugged him. "It's gonna be alright…."

Meanwhile, completely unaware of what was going on outside, Redeski and Newt were enjoying themselves at the range.

"When using a pistol like the Luger, you still want to use both hands, none of that movie stuff with the dramatic one handed pose." Newt advised Redeski. Redeski took her advice, aimed and fired at the target. It missed the metal silhouette by a mile.

"I think my grandma could shoot better then you, not even joking." Newt commented.

"I'll take that as an improvement to my first shot." Redeski replied. The first shot had been quite worse.

"You know what? Let's try a rifle, you might be a better shot with a heavier weapon." Newt said.

So they went and fetched a M1 grand, Springfield, and a Lee Enfield. First up was the M1 Grand.

"Alright, remember to compensate for recoil, and to have a good stance." Newt instructed.

Redeski aimed and fired, and actually hit the target for the first time.

"Hey you finally hit something!" Newt said.

"You know whaaaat." Redeski replied.

"Try the bolt actions, see if they help out your aim any better." Newt instructed.

Redeski tried the Springfield and the Lee Enfield to have similar results of that he had with the M1 Grand. "Not too shabby." Newt said. "Now I'd say your just plain bad at shooting."

"Hey, let's no beat a dead horse now alright?" Redeski replied. "Plus, I've gotta check out how the modifications on the tanks are going – you want to come?"

"Well, I've got nothing better to do at the moment, so I don't see why not" Newt replied.

Redeski and Newt walked over to the tank shed after returning their weapons. While walking out of the armory they saw a more than disheveled Green and Sherry making their way back to the Armory. Redeski looked at Sherry inquisitively as they passed each other, all she did was shake her head. Redeski felt something was up, but decided not to press the issue, and so he and Newt continued to the tank shed.

The first person too great him was none other than the knight himself, George III. "Sir! We have great news!" He said as Redeski walked over to the ELC. The tank was painted a dark blue for some odd reason. And now it had two wielded Panzerfausts on the sides of the turret, making it look quite odd.

"We have managed to get the Panzerfausts on, and we have also managed to be able to fire them from the inside thanks to Chip over here". Chip had a British look about him, around 6'0" with brown hair and eyes. He was the mechanic for the ELC crew.

"How goes it sir?" Chip asked, he seemed to be quite relaxed.

"Quite well, would you mind explaining how you did this?" Redeski asked. Newt seemed skeptical about the conversation from the very beginning.

"Well you see, I just wielded them onto the side of the turret, and added some innards to the turret so a crew member can press a button to fire. Thing is, we'd have to stop to reload the dammed things." Chip replied.

"Well, that seems good enough to me, if you could make the modifications to the rest of the tanks, that'd be amazing." Redeski replied.

"Yes sir!" Chip answered, and he went on his way.

"Sir, we have yet to test the accuracy of this new armament, would you like to give it a test run?" George III asked.

"I'm afraid I'm a horrid shot George, I'll let you guys handle it while I watch." Redeski replied, Newt laughed a bit.

"Is that so sir? Well, alright." George III replied. "Hey Carter! Get her started!" A head popped up from the commander's hatch.

"You say what George?" Carter replied.

"I say start those dammed engines if you know what's best for you!" George answered. It was quite funny to Redeski that everyone on this crew had an English accent, even if it was a French tank.

"Aye-Aye Sir George!" Carter replied, George just face palmed. The engine of the ELC started to turn over as George hopped in, and immediately started shouting orders. Eventually they went off to the targeting range, where there was just bags of sand.

Redeski and Newt looked on as the ELC fired one Panzerfaust, adjusted how far they were from the target (Gradually getting closer) until they were 200 meters away. Then they finally got a hit, although it wasn't exactly dead center, it would do. So the ELC drove on back and parked in its spot. George quickly popped out, and started to give Redeski and Newt the rundown of their short test.

Apparently 200 meters was the maximum range, and it was quite inaccurate at that. Which meant that if the tanks had to use the Panzerfausts, they would need to get quite close. Probably under 100 meters.

This testing went on for most of the already relaxed practice. Which was mostly ran by Tom and Big Sheeds, as Green and Sherry went missing early in the practice. Redeski decided next practice, he would ask Green for a command vehicle, like a converted halftrack or something. Redeski and Newt parted ways, but not before getting each other's phone numbers.

Green on the other hand had followed Sherry's advice as he usually did, and went back to his apartment. He was still a bit shaken at what he just attempted to do, and thinking back on it, he regretted every moment. Sherry was busy warming up some tea in the microwave as Green collected himself on his couch.

Green decided to break the silence. "Hey, Erica, thanks for doing what you did." He said.

"No need to thank me Dan. We all would've done the same." Sherry said. Once the tea was made, Sherry sat down next too Green. They both just sat there for a bit, before Green broke the silence yet again.

"Hey, if we could keep this between you and me, that'd be preferable." Green said. Last thing he wanted was this getting out to the rest of the school. Sherry thought about it for a second before responding.

"Only if you give me your gun." Sherry said. She didn't want him trying this stuff in the future, at least she could keep an eye on Green during practices and during the day. But who knows what would happen when he was alone. "And if me and you talk at least once a week about your problems." She decided to try and play therapist. She knew Green wouldn't see one, even if he could afford one.

"Hey now- " Green tried to protest.

"No. It's not a negotiation Dan, you either agree or I tell the administration." Sherry stated, she couldn't back down on this.

Green took a sip of his tea. "Fine." He was not contempt with the deal, but if the administration found out about this 'mishap' he wouldn't be allowed to go near any weapons until deemed mentally fit or something.

So Green just exhaled and looked into the distance. Sherry kept Green talking. "It's gonna be alright, just take a breather, and relax." Sherry said as Greens eyes teetered on the edge of passing out. Eventually Green did pass out, utterly exhausted from what life had thrown, and from the prospects of what might come.

The Rest of the day lulled by as it usually does on the first day of school. The birds were chirping, the sun was setting, and the campus was calming down. Redeski was cleaning things up on his cot when Prophet waltzed in.

"Nice job this morning Red." Prophet said casually, catching Redeski off guard.

"Uhh- thanks I guess." Redeski replied, closing his locker.

"Didn't know you where such a smooth man either, you and Newt seem to know each other pretty well." Prophet said indifferently. He sat down on his cot, kicking his shoes off and stretching out.

"What do you- I mean-"Redeski stumbled on his words.

"Just save some for the rest of us." Prophet continued his tone.

"I don't know man, can't just kill a magnet." Redeski replied, regaining his composure.

This continued for about a half hour before they both decided to hit the sack, and get a good night's sleep. But there wasn't to be sleep tonight, at least for some people.

Newt was about to finally have some fun, finally able to sneak out past the general curfew, she headed toward the Class building. Dressed in all black, she was about to continue her legacy. She quickly spray-painted a Bald man with a prominent nose peeping over a wall. She then spayed "Kilroy was here" onto the walkway in front of the building. This wouldn't be the first time 'Kilroy' would strike.

 **The next Morning.**

The next morning there was a gathering outside the front of the class building. From what Redeski and Prophet could see, there was some Graffiti on the walkway. After about 10 minutes after arriving some teachers finally got the crowd to clear up, revealing "Kilroy was here" Spray-painted on the walkway. There was hell to be spent during the school day.

Suspected Students were called down to the offices for questioning, and as a general punishment, all students were required to clean all of the walkway around the class building after school. This cut into about 40 minutes of Practice time, and Green was obviously not happy about it.

Once the team finally gathered at the training fields, there was an eerie silence as they awaited to see what Greens move would be. Green decided that instead of having practice from 3-5 as they usually would, 4-7 would do just fine. The team was already formed up, so they did their usual reporting, and then he took a breath to level his head before giving his usual speech before every practice.

"GOOD EVENING CADETS" Green started. They responded with a louder, good evening sir. "As you know, someone in this school thinks it's a good idea to hold up practice for an hour! So, we will now end at SEVEN!" There were a few sighs from the group. Green decided to take it one step further. "And today, you lucky bastards will be doing P.T.!"

Green hid a grin on his face as he watched the expressions on the faces of the Cadets go from discontent to utter defeat. He felt bad afterwards, but he couldn't go back on his own orders.

So with that, he dismissed the formation and had them change into P.T. gear (Shorts and a T). The weather was a cool September evening with a slight breeze. He quickly called his N.C.O's over, and filled them on the route they would take for the run. It was only a mile, but it was a scenic path, with many hills and dirt paths. After that they would do Core and that other Jazz, the groups would be separated by N.C.O. Redeski's group being last.

So they went off, it was more of an organized stampede, with cadets trying to stay in a formation while running. Jodie's could be heard from the other side of the course. Redeski's Group seemed to be more then capable to complete the course. They were hardly winded by the time they reached the end, as the core section began, there was sweat dripping from places most would rather not.

Around 5:30 Green finally put an end to P.T. and told all of the groups to clean up, and be back in 10 mins. So by 5:40 the main part of the practice began. Green addressed the worn out semi-circle of Cadets with the same, if not more, enthusiasm as before P.T. The sun was starting to set, painting a picture on the horizon, just perfect for a mock battle.

"Alright listen up! We will begin a mock battle now, all groups will face off against each other, and the winners put their equipment away first!" Of course, the cadets wanted to get back and do homework as fast as they could. Being the first to put their stuff away would save at least 15 mins. Green then described the starting point of each group. It was basically a big square grid, Redeski got the north, Tom got the West, and Big Sheeds got the East. Sherry, Being the Rear Guard N.C.O. got the middle. This was hardly fair, but Green would be assisting her. As Rear Guard, she needed to be prepared to defend from all sides, at any moment.

By 6 all groups were in their place. With an hour left on the clock, there was an air of exuberance, but this was dimmed quite a bit by the fact that they had all just done P.T. for an hour and a half. Now Redeski was in an ample position for a quick start, as most of his troops were mobile. But he decided to go against what the other N.C.O's would expect, and he dug in. Luckily for him, Redeski was positioned in a small wooded area, which had a great view of the other relatively flat battle ground. Besides the middle, which was the most hilled area.

Since he had the Panzerfausts equipped on the tanks and the pumas, he had them cover themselves in foliage and prepare for an ambush. The infantry and halftracks took the center of the line, with armor on the flanks. The Jeeps were on the far flanks acting as observation posts. The M3 Priest was well hidden behind the main line, waiting for target co-ordinates. Redeski decided to send the ELC out to scout, due to low profile. The dam thing had its iconic blue paint job, and stuck out like a sore thumb. Redeski took a mental note about fixing that problem.

Sherry had little to no time to get dug in before Tom started Shelling her position with field guns. As the Rear Guard, she had mostly infantry, with only a few anti-tank guns here or there. Of course Green was helping her out, but you can't win a battle on wits alone.

She decided that the best option would to be to spread out as much as possible to avoid shelling. Hopefully Big Sheeds would take out Tom before there was nothing but dirt left over here. Luckily she could see exactly that was happening.

Knowing he had the heavy armor advantage, Big Sheeds immediately pushed onto Toms position virtually steam rolling through as Tom's anti-tank guns kept bouncing off of the forward part of the assault, which was mostly Tiger twos, and others of that makeup. Tome managed to scrap a few but nothing too significant. Eventually Tom's forces seemed to be routed, but something seemed odd.

 _Surely we have larger guns then this…_ Big Sheeds thought as his forces secured the position. And low and behold, from a distance, three halftracks 88's opened up as their gun's jus peaked above a depression. They knocked out multiple tanks before they could return fire and deal with the threat accordingly. But now, Sheeds had lost his main advantage of Heavy tanks. He had 2 Tiger Ones left, along with 2 normal infantry squads, the rest of his armor had been knocked out. Tom then formally surrenders and started gathering his group so he could get a head count.

Redeski was chilling with some of the infantry squads when he heard over the radio that Tom had surrendered to Big Sheeds, and George had also reported the weakened stat of Sheed's tanks. With this Redeski decided to take the advantage. He ordered George to get as many runs with the Panzerfausts as he could then to come back.

"Alright, everyone pack up their things and get ready to move!" Redeski ordered. It was time to attack.

Redeski Forces started to regroup and he called all of each of the squads commanders over to explain his plan. "Alright, with Big Sheeds out of the loop we have a great chance to push onto Sherry's position. Thing is, they're on a hill, and we have no siege guns. So the plan is to get the M7 into a hidden position with one support squad." Redeski pointed to a squad commander and the M7 commander. "You two will set up shop here and bombard that hill, it doesn't have to be accurate, just keep them spread out."

Redeski looked at the rest of the commanders. "The rest of you will use the Tanks as cover as we advance on the hill from the west. They shouldn't have too many A.T. guns so we should be fine." He now referenced to the Pumas and the Half tracks. "You guys are gonna flank from the east, but don't stop, we don't need a drawn out fire fight, we don't have the numbers." He took another look around. "Once George gets back from his jousting we will attack, understood?" He finished. The Commanders nodded. "Good, get ready to move out."

"Hey, Knight! What's the plan of attack?" Asked Carter. The ELC crew was nearing the Position of Big Sheed's tanks. There was 2 Tigers, dug in, along with support infantry. They started to fire at the ELC, but the fast tank was able to bob and weave well enough to dodge the shells.

"Head on! Jousting speed!" George replied. "Chip! Ready at the Panzerfaust!" George ordered. There was one on each side of the cramped turret, so George and Chip could fire one each.

Big Sheeds was utterly confused at what Redeski had ordered his men to do. This tank, which was utterly alone, and painted _blue_ for Christ sake was charging head on at his Tigers. "Sir, the ELC isn't breaking off, should we start backing up?" One of the Commanders said. Big Sheeds was in on one of the tanks turrets, it served as his command vehicle.

"No, hold your ground. He has to turn eventually." Big Sheeds replied. The moment the ELC turned, his Tigers would have a better chance of hitting the dammed thing. But it didn't turn. "What the fuck?" Big Sheeds said in surprise as what seemed to be the commander of the ELC popped out of his copula with a raised sword.

"ON MY MARK, FIRE AT WILL!" George ordered, sword raised. The Tigers were less than a mile away now.

A shell landed an inch in front from the ELC showering dirt over Georges head. He continued to give orders. "STEADY AS SHE GOES LAD" George finally swung his sword down.

"MARK!"

One of the ELC's Panzerfausts fired at the Tiger on their right, scoring a dead on hit and knocking it out. Carter quickly slid the ELC to the left, detracting it in the process, but they knocked out the other Tiger with their other Panzerfaust and main gun.

"DISMOUNT AND HUNT DOWN THE REMAING FORCES!" George ordered. There was still some infantry to deal with, which were located on either sides of the tank. The crew dismounted and grabbed their Pistols. Every shot had to count. Luckily Georges sword counted as a melee weapon, so if they ran out of ammo, they could technically still fight.  
Luckily Enough, Big Sheeds dismounted his knocked out Tiger and decided to save the rest of his men a headache. "No need George, I surrender." He stated.

George seemed a bit disappointed, but He'd take it. "Carter!" he yelled. Carters head popped up from behind the ELC.

"Aye sir?" He responded.

"Radio Redeski we cleaned up over here!" George ordered. "Chip, start repairs!"

"Sir, George reports that he's dealt with the remaining forces in the north." The half-tracks driver reported. Redeski was geared up in the back of the halftrack, so he could better co-ordinate the flanking move.

"What?" Redeski replied.

"Yes sir, Carter reports that George has had Commander Sheedy's surrender unconditionally." The driver affirmed.

There was some mumbling in the halftrack, no doubt about theories of how George managed to do that.

"Carter also reports that they are de-tracked, and it's going to take a while for them to get back into action." Said the driver.

"Well alrighty then, hand me the radio." Redeski ordered, and the driver complied. "All units Begin the operation; the good Knight won't be able to accompany us at the moment."

And with that the forces moved out on their final approach.

Green put his binoculars down, and started laughing. Sherry gave him a questioning look. "Big Sheeds just got his ass handed to him by an ELC." Sherry Grinned.

Newt ran up too Green, saluted and said "Sir, there is movement coming from the forest." Green saluted back.

"Alright, everyone get ready!" He ordered as he and sherry ran to some makeshift battlements.

From the looks of it, Redeski's forces split in half, the tanks seemed to be attacking from the sunset, and the infantry facing the sun. "Tanks from the west!" Sherry yelled. The A.T. guns swung into position to counter the oncoming armor. Then the artillery started to strike, mostly inaccurate, but it restricted movement.

All hell broke loose once they all come into range, there was a constant fire fight going on both sides of the hill. The east was moving quickly, as the Pumas and halftracks were making short work of the infantry. The west side was getting bogged down, and the armor ended up getting nailed by the A.T. guns, the infantry had to use the wrecks as cover. This led to a trench like fire fight. Luckily they started to advance once the east side had pushed enough to have the west's troops start to fall back to the top of the hill.

After ten or so minutes, the fighting had been reduced to the top of the hill, Green and sherry's forces were using trees and other object as cover forming a circle around the top. Little did they know, that all that remained of Redeski's attack force was two halftracks and 2 infantry squads, the rest had been knocked out.

Sherry/Green's task force was only at half strength. The M7 wasn't able to get a good shot without risk of hitting their own men, so they waited for further orders. On the mountain top Redeski was at a virtual standstill with Green, the two halftracks were on either side of the defencive circle, with the infantry squads using them as cover.

Green thought out loud. "We have to get Redeski off this hill before the ELC comes, we're out of AT grenades, and the A.T. guns are still out there."

"But, we don't know how many men he has left sir." Sherry added. There was an eerie silence as both sides conserved ammo.

"Indeed, we need to the chance, push to both half-tracks, at least this way we'll have a chance." Green said solemnly. "On my mark, charge them, alright?"

"Yes sir." Sherry responded.

Both sides of circle prepared for a charge, the silence only grew more loud. Green hated it, when there was noise, he knew something, silence was a noise that preluded something. It always had, and it always would.

"MARK!" Green Ordered.

Both sides of the circle Charged the half-tracks.

There was a sudden explosion of gun fire, every which way. Time seemed to slow down as Green led his charge, Colt in hand, toward the enemy. There was a constant yelling to keep the morale of the charge going. His men were cut down my rifle and SMG fire, but the numbers were on his side. Luckily enough, he didn't get shot.

Sherry had similar luck on her end, swiftly taking out the remaining forces under Redeski's command, but one question remained. Where _was_ Redeski? "Redeski! Surrender already! You've got nothing left!" Green shouted.

There was no response.

Redeski had taken the last surviving Jeep along with Prophet, to go round up the M7, ELC and the remaining infantry. They all met at the M7.

"Everyone get over here!" He ordered. They all complied. "Listen up, they probably suffer losses taking out the rest of the squads on that hill, so we can still win this, we just gotta play smart." He stood on the Jeep.

"We are going to use Georges ELC and the M7 to finish the job, rest of you hop in the M7 or on this Jeep. We need to be quick about this." He took a breath. "Engage at your own discretion, we go in at all directions, and don't stop until you hit the top of that hill! Understood?"

"YES SIR!" They sounded off.

"Good! Move out!" Redeski ordered. And they did so.

Of course, George led the charge, straight up the hill. Didn't even bother to fire the main gun, he had other things in mind. "CARTER!" He yelled inside the already cramped tank.

"AYE SIR?" Carter responded.

"Once we hit the top of the hill, me and Chip will dismount and engage! You will drive around as a distraction, understood?" George ordered.

"Aye sir!" Carter responded.

The ELC quickly broke through the line of while Green and Sherry's forces dove out of the way. Once they hit the top of the hill, George and Chip dismounted. Only to find Green and Sherry staring blankly at their face.

"I'll give you one chance to surrender, otherwise you will be shot!" George said, him and Chip pointing their pistols at the two.

"Alright George, just one thing first." Green said. George kept his pistol aimed. Green quickly drew his side arm from its holster and shot Chip, George returned fire and shot Green. Sherry in turn drew her pistol, but was too slow, and George shot her arm, disabling her as she dropped her pistol.

"Alright, I'll give you one more chance, surrender or be shot." George said.

Sherry knew that without a central command, her defense of the mountain would fail. But she had thought this might happen. With that she replied to George "Funny, I was just going to say the same thing"

As she said that, three guards approached from hidden positions, and aimed at George. "Well shit." George said, lowering his pistol. The three guards approached cautiously, everybody on the team knew George in one way or another. He wasn't this well known for nothing.

"Drop the pistol George." Sherry ordered.

George seemed hesitant, and crouched down as if to drop his pistol. But just as he was about to do so, he dove forward and shot Sherry. This hit her leg, her right side was basically frozen now. The Guards opened on George, his armor froze him like a brick.

"Ma'am are you alright?" one of the guards asked.

"Yes I'm fine, just get one of the Medics up here to release the armor." Sherry ordered. But the guards couldn't go anywhere before an M7 rolled up to the top of the hill along with a Jeep from the other side. Before Sherry knew it, she was surrounded by Redeski's troops.

Redeski hopped out of the M7 and said "I take it George was mowed down?"

"Pretty much" Sherry replied.

"very well then, If you would so kindly surrender Sherry." Redeski said.

"I don't know, I think I might just be able to win." Sherry replied.

"You're surrounded, surrender or get shot Sherry, you know the rules." Redeski replied, confidently.

Then there was a flash from a bush, which knocked out his M7. Sherry ran as best she could toward the bush with the three guards protecting her by laying down suppressing fire on the remnants of Redeski's force.

Another shot from the bush had the Jeep knocked out, and before Redeski knew what happened, He was the last one on the hill, besides Sherry's forces of course.

"I'll take your surrender now Red." Sherry said emerging from the foliage. Along with a squad of 5 soldiers.

"I'll nev-" Redeski was interrupted by a bang. His armor tightened up as Newt put her pistol in her holster.

"Sorry about being late Ma'am, But I was held up a little bit, you called for a Medic?" Newt said.

Sherry just laughed, as Newt released Sherry's frozen armor by rubbing some sort of remote over it.

The team was back in the training fields by 7:30 P.M. Sherries forces put their equipment away first, then the rest of the team swarmed trying to put their stuff away. By the time Redeski wrapped that up, de-briefed his forces, and did his homework, it was 10:30 P.M. He went straight to bed.

 **Alright that's it, hope you like it. Input is always welcome, and some ideas might work their way into the story. Anyway, the next chapter will be out by thanksgiving hopefully. HAPPY HOLLOWEEN!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy election day. Trump 2016. Vin Vini Vichi! Anyway, here's another chapter. Input is always welcome, just say you want something and I'll try to implement it as best I can. y! BTW this took a while to type, so it's going to be a long one.**

The days went by in a blur for Red. As the daily routine of waking up, going to school, then going to practice and coming back exhaust finally evened out, he felt like he might just lie in bed for a day. Luckily for him thanksgiving break was just around the corner. As almost as if he had won the daily double, it turns out that his family was stuck in North Carolina for some odd reason, in which his mother wasn't keen on explaining. Probably some business venture that the family got dragged in on for some reason. But that didn't worry him too much, as he was perfectly fine with just hanging around the school for the 5 days he had off. Of course, that all started tomorrow, so here he was, just sitting in his last period of the day. Which so happened to be English, so he ended up day dreaming about what he would do.

Finally, after what seemed 3 hours, the bell finally rang, and Red hurried his way to the training fields. He still hadn't managed to get there before Green this year, and today it would seem that Green had beat him again. He was standing there talking to Sherry. Red slowed his walk so he wouldn't interrupt their conversation.

He eventually walked up to them and greeted the both of them.

"So, what's the plan today?" Redeski asked.

"We'll be going over the plan for the upcoming match against ." Green replied. "You both know what you're doing, so it shouldn't be new stuff."

"Yeh, I guess." Redeski said. "So, is there anything to do around here during break? My parents are stuck in North Carolina."

"Nothing besides you and an empty complex. You're able to use the range during break, along with the training fields, but that's about it." Sherry replied.

"Sounds like funnnnn." Redeski sarcastically said.

"Doesn't it?" Green replied with a chuckle.

Soon enough, the rest of the team gathered, which lead to Green stating that this practice was more of an informational briefing than an actual practice. They Gathered inside the tank shed and set up a projector, and slid a map of what would be the battle ground on it. It was also a heavily forested area, rendering air support useless.

It was to be an odd battle, as there was a river running down the middle. The only way to get across was to cross the stone bridge in the middle, or risk crossing the small wooden bridges on the north or south flanks.

The plan was to abandon the middle, and instead shift those forces back to the H.Q. area in the back of the battleground. Redeski would split his forces and hide on to the north and south. He would collapse onto the enemy when they crossed the bridge. Big Sheeds, would hold the North and South flanks to the best of his ability.

Once the main force was dealt with, they would push through the middle and split to the north and south to meet up with Big Sheeds, who would be assaulting the hostile positions.

was a more traditional school from Pennsylvania, who used mostly U.S. equipment. Their tactics were quite like their equipment, in which they would overwhelm you with Sherman's after shelling you with constant air support and artillery. Luckily the woods limited their ability to do this, so they would more than likely be defensive, advancing only along the main road in the center where there was less foliage.

After the briefing, Green whished everyone a good Thanksgiving and let the team leave early. Most people hung around for a bit and chatted before wandering off. Newt came up to Redeski not that long after the briefing.

"You doin anything later?" Newt asked.

"Not really, my parents are stuck in North Carolina somewhere." Redeski replied.

"Cool, that means you'll be cool with meeting me at the shooting range at five?" Newt stated.

Redeski let out a sigh "Sure." He said jokingly.

"See you then Red!" She replied.

"You don't plan on walking all the way back now, do you?" Red replied. He had gotten the permissions to use a Willis Jeep for the break after explaining to the schools administrative board his situation.

"What?" Newt responded. Her and Red were friends and all, but she didn't know he could drive.

"I was able to snag a Jeep for the entire break, you want a lift or nah?" Red replied trying to act cool.

"Lead the way sir." Newt responded.

Red led her to the Jeep, as he had yet to retrieve it. The administration had given him a serial code which would be painted on the side of the Jeep. Red thought it would be upfront, but it took the two of them a bit to find it. It was all the way in the back of the hangar where the vehicles were stored. It still had a blanket over it with a serial code 999-A painted on it.

Red couldn't believe himself when he took the blanket off. Newt however, busted laughing.

"That's the jeep they lent you?" She giggled.

"Ha-ha. You coming or not?" Red replied.

The Jeep looked fine in itself. Sure, it was pretty rusted and it could be missing a few parts here and there…. But that wasn't even the problem. It was completely _pink_.

"Whatever man, it's your reputation, not mine." Newt said.

"I bet you 20 dollars I can pick a chick up in this, and get her phone number." Red stated.

"Oh yeh? Deal." Newt replied dauntingly.

"Alright then, shake on it?" Red said.

Newt shook his hand while getting in the Jeep. Red followed suit after filling it with gas and such. He drove it out of the hangar, closed the doors to the hangar, got back in and they went on their way. Except he drove in the opposite direction.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Newt said, genuinely worried.

"Making sure you hold up your end of the bet." Red said.

"What?" Newt replied.

"I just won." He replied. And at that moment, Newt realized just how bad she got tricked.

"Wait, wait! That's not fair!" Newt replied.

"You shook on it!" Red said.

"Uggggggggggg, that's such B.S.!" Newt said, as she slouched into the rugged seat. "Can you turn back now?"

"Not until you vow that the money is on the way." Red said playfully.

"The money will find its way eventually..." Newt replied.

"Yeh I'm sure it will." Red said laughing.

They drove back to the dorms to find most of the campus in a bustle. Teachers and students alike were packing their bags and jumping ship to go see some family.

"So, I'll see you by the range at 5?" Redeski affirmed as Newt jumped off the Willis jeep.

"Yeh, could use a lift in that hotrod of yours too, just text me when you're coming." Newt replied.

"Will do, later." Redeski said as he drove off to his bunk.

Once he arrived and parked the jeep in the closest possible spot, he found the area mostly empty with a few students finishing packing their things. Prophet was passed out face down on their bunk, Redeski decided to wake him up.

He stepped on Prophet's arm as he climbed onto the top bunk. Prophet immediately jolted awake, like he was shot.

"Shit, what time is it?" Prophet asked.

"Its 4 pm" Red said.

Prophet then said more obscenities then Redeski thought were in existence, and ran out of the barracks saying something about being late for a taxi.

Redeski just laughed it off and decided to take a quick nap before hitting the Range with Newt. On the other side of the coin however, Green and Sherry were chilling in Greens Flat.

"So, you gonna go see Hobs?" Sherry asked.

"No, I gotta get everything prepared for the match coming up, looks like its gonna start snowing early this year." Green replied

"Why don't you let me cover that, you need a break." Sherry suggested. She didn't really mind missing thanksgiving that much.

"Are you sure? Your parents would surely-"Green said.

"Yes, I'm sure. Go home Green, get some R&R" Sherry said sternly.

"But I insist, there's no need for-" Green was cut off again by Sherry, this time speaking more sharply.

"Yes, I am sure." Sherry stated, there was no question that was the end of the conversation.

So after Sherry left, Green made plans with Hobs to get home for the break. Once 5pm hit, Redeski and Newt were on their way to the range. Redeski had gotten used to driving the beaten-up Jeep.

"So you got no plans for the holiday?" Redeski asked Newt.

"No, I like to lay low during holidays." Newt replied.

"Why is that?" Redeski inquired further.

"None of your business is why it's that." Newt replied.

"Alright, whatever you say…" Redeski answered jokingly.

"Hey, don't try and guilt me like that!" Newt responded.

"Fine, have it your way." Red replied.

The duo eventually ended up at the range and started to shoot while talking casually about school and other items.

Sherry had planned on visiting her family, but this suited her fine. She opened the shed where the paints for the camouflages were. There was going to be a long road ahead, she thought as she took two for winter camo and hauled them over the hanger.

As she opened the door, and looked at the row of vehicles ahead of her, it seemed as if there might be no end to this. And with that, she got to work.

 **Green 5:30**

Green's ride in Hob's car was quiet to say the least. They hadn't talked since his sister had died. Green had refused to go to the funeral, as he could not bring himself to bear his sister's death. \

Hob's, the shorter side of tall, and the larger side of thin, with a mustache that could resemble and Italian man chef, tried to start a conversation in what seemed like an ever shrinking car. So he started with the basics.

"How's school been going?" He asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Good." Green replied, matter of factly.

"Any matches recently?" Hobs asked, determined to ease the tension.

" No, due to a change in officials, the first match is coming up the day we come back from break." Green replied.

"Isn't it snowing?" Hobs asked again.

"That's the prediction, should make for an interesting match if you want to come and observe." Green stated again.

"I'll see if I have work that day." Hobs said. Hobs then pulled into the driveway of his house in Buffalo.

It was a small but cozy ranch just outside the city. Green hauled in his small amount of luggage in.

The days went by like a cold breeze. An unspoken routine had been settled between the two men, as each was one of their own accord. Eventually Thanksgiving came, and Hobs threw a gathering of various people, some of which green new since he was young. Some Green found out were new to the precinct, and were quickly introduced.

With this Green forgot about what had plagued him for the past months, and actually enjoyed a few hours of his life. It was almost as if an steady, warm orange flame was brought over the house. Once the gathering was finished, the flame started to die out, as Green had one question on his mind.

"Hobs?" Green asked as they cleaned up from the dinner.

"Yes?" Hobs replied.

"How did my sister die?" Green asked.

The question hung in the air like mustard gas. Hobs slowly walked over to the kitchen table and sat down, he indicated for Green to do the same.

"You want to know how she died?" Hobs asked, as if making sure he heard Green correctly.

"Yes." Green said as he took a seat.

A new kind of cold swept over the house, but not one like before, it was less of an ice and more of a gentle frost.

"Alright… I was perusing a mob that has been on their last legs for a couple of years, ever since me and your sister busted their asses a few times." Hobs said. "I was going to meet an informant from the inside to get the location of their last outpost, so your sister was called in to give me support incase things went bad."

Hobs took a breath.

Then continued. " She was in civvies, but was nearby acting like she was reading a paper. The Mob must've caught onto the deal. There was a drive by, I managed to dive behind a car but your sister was caught in the cross fire. She died of blood loss."

And with that, the frost in the house turned to a warm fire again, as Green zoned out, digesting what was said.

"I'm Gonna hit the sack, we can clean this mess tomorrow." Hobs said as he went and patted Green on the back while moving to his bedroom.

The rest of the break passed quickly, and before Green knew it, he ended up back up at the school.

 **Last day of Thanksgiving break 8am**

Green walked over the hanger, he knew Sherry would be there and wanted to see if he could lend a hand. Turns out she had already finished. So, Green was about to leave when he heard a clank of some sort.

"Sherry that you?" Green asked to no one in particular. He walked further into the hanger curiously.

Instead of finding Sherry, he instead found Red. Red was stripped to his boxers and had emerged from behind a Sherman.

"Hey, uh sir, I was just looking for a- uh-…" Red started to speak.

Green took a look at what appeared before him. One of _his_ officers was striped, almost _butt naked_ and had just emerged from a _Sherman._ This would **not** stand.

"RED, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, IN YOUR BOXERS, IN THE HANGAR, AT EIGHT IN THE MORNING!" Green yelled as loud as he could in his command voice.

"Sir, I can-" Red tried to say something.

"AREA ATTENTION!" Green yelled.

Red had no chance but to comply and stood at attention.

"FOR THE LOVE OF ME I CANNOT EVEN THINK TO IMAGINE WHAT YOU ARE DOING HERE!" Green was furious at this point. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

But Red need not explain himself, as almost perfectly timed to this question, Newt popped from the top of the Sherman, looking dazed.

"Red what's-" She asked before realizing what was happening.

Green just looked from Red, to Newt. He did this about 6 times before he finally collected his thoughts. He quickly pulled his pistol from his pocket and loaded it with a magazine. He was loaded with blanks he picked up from Hob's house, but this punishment was going to need as much authenticity as possible.

"Sir?" Red asked, getting worried. This could not only get him expelled, but Green just loaded his pistol.

Newt had gotten dressed before jumping from the Sherman, and joining Red at the position of attention.

"Run." Green said.

"Sir-" Red started, but was cut off by Green firing into the ceiling.

"Next bullet is in your head!" Green stated, jokingly of course, but the two in front of him didn't know that. Green then lowered his pistol to aim it at Red.

And like that, Red and Newt were off like two jack rabbits evading a fox. Green fired a few blanks in their direction for good measure. He also decided to leave whatever was in the Sherman to be found by the Crew. It would serve as embarrassment enough.

And Just for this outrage, Green would work his team overtime for the next week.

Luckily Red and Newt didn't run into anybody and were able to disperse without being spotted.

The Day went by in a breeze, as people came back from the holiday weekend. The next day was exempt of classes for the Combatery team as they prepared for their fight that would start in the evening. Everyone met at the hangar, and Green did his final briefing before moving out around noon. The team would travel in a convoy on the roads to the match site. It would take about 5 hours to get there, and after the rules were stated and everything set up, it would start around 6. It was looking like snow, but it could still pass.

At 12:30 the team got into a convoy and started to move out. Red had finally gotten a go for a command vehicle, which just happened to be the pink Jeep. Sure it was in rough shape and pink…. Probably not the best choice but it would do for now. Him, George and Prophet were riding it to the match site. The order of the convoy had Big Sheeds go first, then Red, then Tom, then Green and Sherry with the Rear Guard.

The convoy was quite the site as it traversed the upper New York landscape. It was quite cold out, around 40 degrees, but with little wind. The convoy was about 30 minutes in when George spotted something on the Sherman in front of their Jeep.

"Oy, you guys see that?" George asked, pointing the rising pole out of the Sherman's commanders Capula.

"What is that.." Prophet added in. There seemed to be a bright pink object on the pole that was now firmly affixiated to the Sherman's turret. The crew member was using a portable wielder to make sure it stayed on the turret.

"I think those are undergarments!" George said, appalled.

"I didn't hear of a panty raid!" Prophet continued.

Red was quick to the radio. He had an idea of whose those were.

"This is Red, Sherman in front of us….. what are you doing?" He asked.

There was a slight pause, then there was a response.

"Panty Bandit to Red, we found some underwear and other clothing items in our Sherman, so we've taken it as a message from the lord himself, and we have decided to honor his message by displaying it in his glory, in that he might help us during this season." The commander responded

Red was about to tell him to knock it off when Green got on the intercom.

In Greens halftrack he had him, Sherry and Newt along with 5 others from the personal guard. Green walked up to the radio in the cabin and answered what he had just overheard.

"This is Green, how'd that happen?" Green asked, knowing full well this a warm smile on his face what happened.

"Panty Bandit to Green, we have no idea, but can we keep it?" The tank commander asked.

"Yes. Just don't let it compromise camouflage too much. Green out." Green walked back to his seat beside Sherry and glanced at Newt, who was just looking at the floor.

"10-4 Green! Panty Bandit out!" The commander signed off.

Sure it wasn't exactly proper conduct, but this was punishment enough Green thought, as the Halftrack rolled on along with the rest of the convoy.

Red just zoned out as the tank commander somehow whipped out paint brush and painted "Panty Bandit" on the side of the Shermans turret. In pink, none the less. Why he had pink paint on him eluded Red to no end.

Over the radio there was a lot of chatter asking for confirmations of the "Panty Bandit" all met with un-paralleled certainty when the most serious and straight-faced first sergeant on the team ordered his Jeep to go to the 'Panty Bandit' and upon reaching the tank, Proceeded to stand up and salute the pole in which it was raised. The other passenger in the Willis did the same. The Jeep then dropped back to its position in the convoy.

The rest of the journey was uneventful compared to its start.

The sun was just about setting when the teams got into their positions and the Ref initiated the match over the radio. From then on, the match would be spectated using drones operated by different News Services.

Red and Tom positioned themselves in ambush positions around the center road. The road was 3 lanes in either direction. It seemed to be in rough shape, but it was perfect for the mass of Sherman's that would without a doubt barrel down it.

Red had George and his ELC in a scouting position, near the bridge, a good 600 meters away from the ambush site. It was 8pm.

"George, this is Red, you see anything up there?" Red asked over the radio.

"Nothing yet, I'll let you know when something happens over here." George replied.

"10-4 Red out." Red stated. His forces and Tom's complimented each other, as Red's anti infantry weapons were evenly distributed along with Tom's A.T. guns and other support weapons.

After checking to make sure everyone on his side of the road was in place, he decided to catch some sleep.

It started to lightly snow, so that just a thin layer of white frosting covered the landscape. Just as the clock struck midnight, the peace of this scene was broken as an almost drum like explosions were heard in the distance. Birds immediately scattered out of the barren trees.

"INCOMING" Somebody yelled.

And with that Red was jolted awake, but dared not leave the fox-hole. It was his only protection it the incoming storm of metal rain.

The ground was torn to shreds as the barrage landed.

It was relentless, and wasn't over until a good 15 minutes later. Once it had passed Red immediately stood and took control of the situation.

"EVERY BODY UP! MAN YOUR STATIONS!" He yelled, as if anyone wasn't awake yet.

He ran to the radio on his jeep to contact George.

"George, this is Red, what's the word over there?" Red asked. Men were scrambling around him to find their positions.

"We've got incoming Shermans! Should I Engage?" George asked.

"Do what you can and back out, I don't need you out of action so soon." Red Replied.

"10-4! Knight out!" George signed off.

Red ran over to the M7. "Hey guys, we've got incoming Shermans, I need you to lay down some HE to make sure they don't have much infantry support." Red ordered.

"Yes sir!" The M7 Commander replied.

Red was hoping George could by him some time so that everyone could get in position. He quickly went to the Jeep and grabbed a Lee Enfield to face the oncoming storm.

 **12:30 am**

George knew what Red needed, and that was time. Now he knew it wasn't a lot of time that he needed, but every bit would help.

"Carter! En Garde! We have a go to engage the enemy!" George yelled.

Carter awoke from his nap, and started the engines. "Yes sir!" He replied.

"Alright we're going to drive through their line, and hide in the forest on their side of the river to see if we can harass them." George ordered.

"Yes sir." Carter replied.

"Got mitt uns." George stated as he looked at the cloud of snow that the mass of Shermans was kicking up.

The ELC charged the mass head on before they were able to reach the bridge. One of the Drones just happened to be able to catch the ELC and follow it close from behind.

As the ELC broke cover, it fired on the move. It was hard to miss, and managed to knock a few Shermans out. George popped the commanders hatch and fired the Panzerfausts on the sides of the tank, Both met their targets, adding another two Shermans to the list.

Shells were flying everywhere, struggling to hit the swerving ELC as it hit top speed on the flat ground.

As the ELC started to pass the line of Shermans, George whipped out his pistol and shot at any Commander who was outside of the Capula. None hit of course, but he thought it was worth a try. Carter then broke off and disappeared into the forest.

 **12:45 am**

The colum of Shermans were ever so determined to push onward as they simply shrugged off their losses and continued into the ambush spot.

They moved slowly and carefully through the shredded area, taking in any signs of an ambush. Once the colum had reached far enough inside the target area, they opened fire.

There was chaos as the A.T. Guns went off, and the infantry scattered, along with the tanks. Red was alongside an M.G. position. Before the firefight took flight, it ended with the remaining enemy forces surrendering.

Now all that needed to be done was to take the enemy base.

"Spear Force one! Group on me and get ready to move out!" Red ordered. Him and the light tanks and halftracks would now advance to the hostile base.

That wasn't needed, however, as the ref stated over the radio "St. Louis General knocked out! Match over!"

There was a look of confusion on everybody's faces.

"What the fuck- Some body get George on the Radio!" Red ordered, almost angry.

"Here you go sir." A radio man handed Red the com.

"George this is Red, was that you?" Red asked.

"Sir, we spotted a Perishing and took it out in the woods, turns out their General was in there, didn't even put up much of a fight I might add." George replied.

"10-4 George, get back here so we can go home." Red ordered.

 **1am**

"Everybody listen up!" Green yelled to the Mass of confused soldiers. They had all been recalled much earlier than expected due to Georges actions. "We're spending the night here, and moving out at 7 back to the school, make yourselves at home!" There was more grunts then anything, as most everyone was tired anyway.

 **7am**

Just as said a few hours ago, the team was ready to move out by seven, back to the school. But formalities, were run through first, as Green and the command staff shook hands with the other command staff of the enemy team.

Once that was over they went back to the school. They got home in the afternoon and dispersed relaxing before the next school day.

 **Alright sorry about that long waiting time guys, but I've had my hands full. All suggestions are welcome, and i plan on having two chapters out by the end of February. -Shor'reg.**


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